Shank button feeder



A ril 15, 1958 w. A. TROLL 2,830,549

SHANK BUTTON FEEDER Filed Dec. 9. 1953 4 sheets-sheet 1 54 40 I I 43 55,FT"I

57 21 l N i 6 L32 '19 a6 h 35- /5 .INVENTOR 33/ WE'ZZaamflYY-oli V 53 BY ,3 O 3 l6 ATTORNEY April 15, 1958 W. A. TROLL SHANK BUTTON FEEDER Filed Dec. 9, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 um J 58 T /Z 5g 43 B ST :wzzmraxz1g F 24 V n 24%2w W ATTORNEY April 15, 1958 w. A. TROLL SHANK BUTTON FEEDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 9, 1953 INVENTOR William .H. Troll 23AM fi ATTORNEY April 15, 1 5 w. A. TROLL SHANK BUTTON FEEDER 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 9. 1953 INVENTOR William H. Tro ZZ ,8 ATTORNEY United States Patent() SHANK BUTTON FEEDER Wiliiam A. Troll, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Emsig gggiufacturing Company, New York, N 1., a partner- 9, 1953, Serial No. 397,144

15 Claims. (tCl. 112-413) Application December end of a grooved shank;

(c) Releasing the work to eject the sewn button and position an unsewn button into sewing position.

The foregoing cycle of operation is executed in connection with a feeder which, within limits, may feed buttons within a range of sizes without requiring adjustment, thereby to provide a rugged installation capable of rapid sewing. I

Still more particularly, it is an object of this invention to provide a button feeding mechanism having certainty of operation and great durability, combined with high speed performance to effect substantial economies in affixing buttons to work, eliminating the. necessity for manipulation in locating the button in sewing position, leaving the operator free to direct and guide the article to which the button is to be applied.

To attain these objects, and such further objects as may appear herein, or be hereinafter pointed out, lmake reference to the appended drawings forming a part hereof, wherein- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a button sewing machine embodying a feeder in accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary magnified front elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a view'similar to Figure 3 with the feeder mechanism in the ejecting position;

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a magnified section taken on the line'66 of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a composite view similar to Figure 3, diagrammatically illustrating the various positions of the feeder;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary front elevation of a feeder .in accordance with another embodiment of this invention;

Figure 9 shows comparative outlines and positions of different feeders for a different range of button head sizes.

The invention in its preferred form is illustrated in connection with a button sewing machine which makes a single thread chain stitch and is equipped with a vibrating needle bar that is normally furnished with a clamp for a button holder, cooperating with a plate to hold the work and button stationary during a cycle of stitching of a vibrating needle bar. The improvement in accordance with this invention involves coupling the 2,33%,549 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 releasable work holding clamp member with a combined presser foot and button feeder characterized by the features of including a chute along which edgewisely located buttons are fed from a classifying hopper to the presser foot portion of the chute in a sewing position, each cycle of sewing operation including shifting a button into sewing position when the presser foot clamp member is brought into the work releasing position, which simultaneously ejects a sewn button and in the movement of clampingly holding the Work and a new button in position, to direct the button feeder mechanism through a path locating the feeder mechanism into an initial position without interfering with the flow of the edgewisely positioned buttons in the chute.

in the drawing there is shown the button machine body It} having a head 11 for operating a vibrating needle bar assembly 12 in relation to the base 13, cooperatingly supporting looper mechanism 14. Over the base 13 there is a bracltet 15 which is fixedly held by the bracket holding screw 16. The bracket 15 has a branch 17, extending over the plate 18 and terminating in an anvil 19. The anvil i9 is provided with a slot 20, through which the screw 21 extends in engagement with the branch 17 for adjustably mounting the anvil on the branch 17. The anvil 19 has its end 22 formed with a needle slot 23.

Over the edge 22 of the anvil, the fabric or other work piece F may be positioned to lie on the face 24 and overhang the edge 22, it being understood that the needle may sew through the button aperture, extend into the slot 23, through the work, then in the path of the looper 14 for forming a chain stitch in afiixing the button to the fabric or like workpiece.

in the embodiment illustrated, a button clamp arm 25 is pivoted at one end to the pintles 26 and adjacent its free end includes a clamp lifting rod bracket 27, to which the lifting rod 2% is connected for manual or automatic raising of the clamp bar into work releasing position at the end of each sewing cycle found in the well known Singer button machine -60.

In accordance with this invention, a button classifying hopper 2? has extended therethrough a button chute 30, including an articulated section 31, terminating in a nose 32, forming a forwardly extended presser foot branch 33. The presser foot branch 33 is affixed to a horizontally extending bracket 34 by the supporting screw 35 at its forward end. The bracket 34 has a horizontal segment 34 extending rearwardly to a web 36 underlying the clamp lifting rod bracket 27 to which it is affixed by the bolt 37.

Referring now to the chute and its articulated segments 30 and 31, these members comprise main relatively rigid plates 38 and 39 joined by a lap joint plate 40, which is bolted to the plate 38 by the spaced bolts 41 and by the pintle bolt 42 passing through the segment 31 for pivotally relating the segments 30 and 31 to each other. The plates 38 and 39, at their front faces, support tracks 43 and 44 defining a channel 45, spaced from the faces of the plates 38 and 39 by the spacer studs 46 and forming open side channels 47 between the front faces of the plates 3% and 39 and the tracks 43 and 44. The segment 31 comprising the plate 39 and the superimposed tracks 43, 44, extend from a lateral position of the body 10 to beneath the head 11 to extend the plane thereof in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the head.

The buttons B have their heads as guided along the channel 47 and extending the shank portion in the channel 45 along a path following the presser foot branch 33, at which portions the tracks 43 and 44 terminate adjacent the nose 32 into spring fingers 49 and 50, clampingly to press the button 48 into frictional contact with the front face of the nose 32.

In a construction such as described, the fingers 49 and 5t) serve as detents to the movement of the buttons pastv the fingers 49. The edges 51, 51 of the tracks 43 and 4d defining the channel 45 engage the shanks S of the buttons to maintain them in oriented position, to hold the thread receiving aperture 0 of the button normal to the path defined by the channel 47. A button ad acent the fingers 49 and 50 will have the orifice O in a sew ng position when it is in alignment with the channel 23 1mmediately above the needle slot 52.

To effect feed of the buttons from the hopper 29 along the chute segments 30 and 31, gravity is relied upon, augmented by a vibratory movement imparted to the chute 30, such as by employing a vibrator which strikes the chute, thereby preventing a static condition of the buttons or a canting position to restrain the gravitational flow of the edgewisely positioned buttons. The flow of the buttons will proceed until frictional engagement with the detent fingers 49 is encountered. Positive positioning is secured by means of the feeder pawl 53 which is supported in position from the bracket 54 attached by screws or other suitable means to the lower side of the head 11,

the bracket 54 having a dependent arm 55, including a pivot bearing 56 for the pawl 53. The feeder pawl 53 has a branch 57 spring biased by the coiled spring 53, and affixed to the head 11 at one end 59, thereby biasing the finger 61) in opposition to the line of feed of the buttons. The finger 60 is edgewisely guided adjacent the face 61hr" the presser foot segment 33 of the track 43 and is held against lateral displacement by the guide roller 62, extending from the stud 63. The guide roller has a flange 64 to crie side of the hub 65, against which the inner camming surface 66 resists in rolling action. The camming surface 66 has an initial tolerance of movement before ejecting a button and is contoured to act as a follower to predeterminedly displace the pawl 53 as the presser end 33 of th chute is moved upwardly to the work releasing positionand downwardly to the work engaging position.

In moving to the work releasing position, as more clearly shown in Figures 3\and 4, the initial raising of the presser foot branch 33 will cause the finger 60 to enter the clearance space betwpen the shank of the buttons in the second and third positions 13 and B by an inward displacement of the cam. rise surface 67 as the follower surface successively engages the hub and moves to the camming surfaces 63 and, tending to retract the finger 60, then moving to the risesurfaces 69 and 70 to impart a combined downward and outward pivotal movement until the stop surface 71 is engaged as the limiting upward position of the presser foot branch 33 is reached, positioning the finger 60 to a limiting position outwardly tangential to the shank S of the button, aligning the orifices O in dead center with the path of the movement of the needle N downwardly, the button then being in the first position B The feeder pawl has a wide range of movement as shown in Figure 7 before engaging a button to take care of different sizes of buttons as will appear here below.

Releasing of the presser foot controlled mechanism connected with the lifting rod 28 as by a treadle or other means (not shown) will drop the presser foot 33 to the sewing position of the button which has been moved to the B position, as shown in Figure 3. The finger 60 is spring retracted in various positions progressively, as shown in Figure 7, to have the camming surface 67 clear the shank of the button which is gravitationally moved to the B position.

The sewing cycle is then executed automatically, as known in this type of machine, to cause a stitch ST by the vibrating stitching operation over the end 72 of a button held on the anvil 19 against the fabric F, previously described. This completes one cycle of operation and at the pause usually accompanying the formation of the chain stitch and knotting action, the presser foot is automatically raised to the position shown in Figures 4 and 7 by an upward impelling movement, especially where solenoid impelling means are employed to eject the button B and move it with the attached fabric to which it is stitched forwardly toward the operator. The button in the B position has been simultaneously moved to the sewing position in readiness for rapid repetition of the sewing cycle.

It will be observed that by aligning the channel with the longitudinal axis of the sewing machine, and forming an open work construction, visual inspection of the feed is assured and accuracy of positioning of the fabric to the work is readily obtained. Likewise, an undisturbed condition of the row of buttons leading to the hopper is maintained, preventing jamming by reason of canting which may be caused by backward movement of the buttons.

Likewise it will be understood that while the pawl finger 60 may be used to actuate the feed of the buttons adjacent the detent fingers 49 and 56 by engagement of the shank S, it will be understood that such engagement may be effected upon the button heads themselves, provided continuity of contact between the heads of the buttons is maintained to sweep the buttons to the sewing position adjacent the detent fingers 49 and 50. The limiting action of movement causes the pawl to move to the stop position, permitting of a range of sizes of buttons to be used without altering the cam construction. This is particularly effective where the feed is accomplished by contact with the shank S of the buttons.

With-an engagement of the pawl finger 60 upon the shanks or exterior portions of the button, as distinguished from prying in between button heads, tending ordinarily to shift the buttons in two directions, the same chute may be employed for buttons of different sizes, provided the shank portions S fit within the channel 45 defined by the walls 51. Accordingly,'a sweeping movement of the pawl without any backing up action is made possible by the installation which has been described.

While as shown, the pawl 53 may shift shank buttons with different sizes of heads, within limits determined, in the embodiment illustrated, by the clearance between the buttons, particularly the shanks in the B and 13; position, it will be understood that where the spacing between the shanks may cause obstruction to the rearward movement of the pawl, a different clearance movement may be secured for a different range of sizes of buttons by altering the camming surface 63. Thus, pawls of the type shown may be used for a range of from three to five lignes, without any adjustment of the chute, maintaining however the size and contour of the shank to fit within the channel 45. The employment of a swinging pawl having a camming surface to follow the actuating roller along a path within the clearance range between the buttons in the second and third positions, thereby displacing the button toward the nose, is a feature which makes it possible to employ a range of sizes of buttons in the same chute within relatively wide limits, with a continuous feed of buttons from a hopper to the point at which the button is sewn.

While I have shown and described and prefer a chute having a feed line in the plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the machine, to present the line of feed normal to the vibratory movement of the needle N in that re- 5 tention of the work stationary assures a high degree of accuracy in the relatively movable parts, I may secure some of the benefits of the novel construction with a button sewing mechanism having a reciprocating work holding clamp and a sewing needle movable in a single line. For this purpose reference is made to Figure 8 in which there is illustrated a button sewing machine head 11:: having a needle bar 12a for the needle N, arranged to provide stitching with relation to a chain stitch looper mechanism in a single line. Over the base 13a there is a work holding assembly comprising the plate assassin s 13a, over which the button clamp is normally employed, cooperating with known work jogging mechanism in the machine for movement of the fabric F and button through the cycle of stitching rearwardly and forwardly with relation to the line of movement of the needle N.

In the construction as shown, a bracket 73 has a hooked post 74, actuated by the draw bar 75 through the arm 76. This mechanism for lifting the clamp arm and presser foot normally associated with it is a known installation readily recognized as the Singer button sewing machine 114 need not here be described. Reference for the details thereof is made to my application Serial No. 52,683, now Patent No. 2,597,912, May 27, 1952, and a division thereof, Serial No. 281,534, filed April 10, 1952 (now abandoned), of which this application is a continuation-in-part as to so much thereof which disclose a clamp arm to which is mounted a presser foot forming a part of a chute for directing shank buttons from a hopper along the length of the chute by the raising and lowering of the presser foot in relation to a feeder pawl which is pivotally extended from the presser foot and discharges a button by engagement of follower means on the presser foot to cam the feeder pawl when the presser foot is raised.

To the bracket 73 there is attached and mounted the button chute 3% in form and construction previously described in my prior patent and application aforesaid for directing buttons from a hopper along its length to the button sewing position of the detent fingers 49a and 59a. in this form of construction, the chute sections 30a and 31a are connected to each other to articulate with relation to a hopper in fixed position, as in my prior patent and application aforesaid. The chute section 31a terminates in the nose portion 32 and this portion, forwardly of the extended branch 33a, constitutes the presser foot branch. The work holding plate and cooperative nose portion 320: yield to jogging movement with relation to a fixedhopper therefor and secure the benefits of such jarring movement to aid in the gravitational feed of buttons.

The plane of the section Sfia adjacent the branch 33a is transverse to the jogging movement of the work holding clamp and presser foot to move the fabric F rearwardly and forwardly during the cycle of stitching over the end of the button B, as in the prior embodiment.

Automatic feed of the buttons by a feeder pawl 53a is secured as in the prior embodiment, employing a support for the pawl 5350 upon arm 7'7 which is pivoted on the chute section Illa on the pintle 78 at one end and has a head engaging end in relation to which the pawl slides 79 at the other end.

The feeder pawl 53a is mounted on the arm 77 on a stud 843. A branch 81 is connected to the spring 82 at one end thereof, the spring being anchored by the screw 83 to the chute Ella. The biasing movement of the spring is restrained by the camming guide roller 62a upon a stud 63a in form and construction previously described in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 7. In all other respects, the feeder pawl 53a includes the finger ila with re ation to the camming surface use having an initial cam rise surface 67a, as, 69a, 7% and a stop surface 71a in contour and dimension substantially equivalent to the rior embodiment and functioning in the same manner to accommodate a different range of sizes of buttons within limits employing the same carnming pawl 53a.

in both corn "actions, with a known throw of the presser foot by the draw bar 75, a predeterminedly selected feeder pawl be employed, requiring no adjustment or variability in setting for shank buttons having a different range of sizes of heads, in a measure to secure the features described in connection with the first embodiment.

The construction illustrated in Figure 8 may be used effectively with buttons varying in size from three to five lignes, without any adjustrnent'in the throw of the feeder 6 pawl, minimizing supervision in change from one size to another within limits.

in Figure 9 there is superimposed for illustration a comparative outline and relative positions of different feeder pawls for two different ranges of button head sizes in the sewing position. Each pawl is in contact with the guide roller hub 62. The pawl feeder 53A, shown in full line, will be available, for example, for a range of 18 to 23 ligne buttons, while the pawl feeder 53B, shown in dotted lines, will be available for a range of 13 to 16 ligne buttons, the shanks remaining the same size, the outline of the buttons in full lines being those to be fed by the pawl feeder 53A and the outline of the buttons in dotted lines being for a range to be fed by the pawl feeder 53B. The depth of the cam surfaces, as previously described, provides for proper feed with such variation in ranges, without shank interference.

The foregoing will be understood from the positions shown by the feeder pawl in Figure 7, where the initial displacement to the dotted position shows retraction from the solid line position and to button projection, shown in dot and dash position. Simplicity of construction and maintenance are thereby secured.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- 1. In a button feeder for use in combination with a button sewing machine for attaching shank buttons, a guide channel raceway for edgewisely holding and slidebly guiding buttons, one end of the raceway having means to supply buttons thereto from a bulk source, the other end of the raceway having a substantially vertically movable presser foot portion including clamping fingers at a terminal point of the presser foot to hold a button in sewing position, the feeder having, in combination, a feeder pawl from which a button engaging finger is extended in button engaging position adjacent said terminal point of said presser foot, means for pivotally mounting the said pawl in relation to said presser foot to extend said finger at least partially between adjacent buttons upon raising the presser foot portion in relation to the sewing machine, a cam on said pawl and a follower on said presser foot portion, said pawl including inwardly from the terminal point of said finger adjacent rise and stop portions for engagement by said follower, the rise portion being in the leading position and the stop portion in the trailing position to predeterminedly sweep a button in the raceway to a fixed sewing position, respectively, in substantially only one direction in lifting the presser foot.

2. in a feeder for use in. a combination in accordance with claim 1 wherein said follower is a flanged roller to hold said pawl against displacement.

3. in a button feeder for use in combination with a button sewing machine for attaching shank buttons, a guide channel raceway for edgewisely holding and slidably guiding buttons, one end of the raceway having means to supply buttons thereto from a bulk source, the other end of the raceway having a substantially vertically movable presser foot portion including clamping fingers at a terminal point of the presser foot to hold a button in sewing position, the feeder having, in combination, a feeder pawl from which a button engaging finger is extended in button engaging position adjacent said terminal point of said presser foot, means for pivotally mounting the said pawl in relation to said presser'foot to extend said finger at least partially between adjacent buttons upon raising the presser foot portion, a cam on said pawl and a follower on said presser foot portion, said cam comprising a compound surface including inwardly from the terminal point of said finger adjacent retraction, rise and stop portions merging successively from the retraction, rise and stop portions for engage- .ient by said follower, the retraction portion leading the rise portion and the stop portion trailing the rise portion,

to predeterminedly sweep a button in the raceway to a fixed sewing position in substantially one direction in lifting the presser foot.

4. In a button feeder for use in combination with a button sewing machine for attaching shank buttons, a guide channel raceway for edgewisely holding and slidably guiding buttons, one end of the raceway having means to supply buttons therefrom from a bulk source, the other end of the raceway having a substantially vertically movable presser foot portion including clamping fingers at a terminal point of the presser foot to hold a button in sewing position, the feeder having, in combination, a feeder pawl from which a button engaging finger is extended in button engaging position adjacent said terminal point of said presser foot, means for pivotally mounting the said pawl in relation to said presser foot to extend said finger at least partially between adjacent buttons upon raising the presser foot portion, a cam on said pawl and a follower on said presser foot portion, said cam comprising a compound surface including inwardly from the terminal point of said finger adjacent retraction, rise and stop portions merging successively from the retraction, rise and stop portions for engagement by said follower, the retraction portion leading the rise portion and the stop portion trailing the rise portion to predeterminedly sweep a button in the raceway to a fixed sewing position in substantially one direction in lifting the presser foot, and a clearance rise for the finger in releasing the presser foot to work engaging position.

5. A feeder assembly for feeding shank buttons to the button sewing machine comprising a substantially vertically movable work and button holding presser foot including a plate and spaced tracks outlining a channel in which the head of the shank button is guided, and a slot between said tracks through which the shank of said button may extend, whereby a row of buttons may be held in edge-to-edge contact, a pivotal pawl having a finger for engaging a button in said channel, mounting means for said pivotal pawl permitting movement of said pawl finger along said presser foot, cumming means on said pawl, follower means on said presser foot cooperating with said camming means on said pawl to cause said pawl finger to engage the button for shifting and ejecting a button when the presser foot is raised, said pawl and follower means having cooperative stop means to limit the movement of the pawl in relation to the presser foot member during movement of said presser foot whereby, upon raising of the presser foot, said pawl will be projected between the second and third buttons held in said chute, to eject the first button and position the second button in a sewing position on the presser foot by the limiting, swinging movement of the pawl in relation to the stop.

6. The combination with a button sewing machine having stitching means on the head thereof operated by the jogging of the needle to engage the work in spaced points while holding the work stationary, a chute having a guide channel raceway for edgewisely holding and guiding a continuous row of shank buttons in edge-to-edge relation of the heads thereof, means at one end of the chute arranged to be connected to a bulk source supply means for said buttons, a presser foot portion terminating in a nose portion extending from said raceway and along which shank buttons are arranged to be guided slidably at the other end of said raceway, said nose portion cooperating with an anvil on the said sewing machine to form a clamp for holding the work and a button stationary during the said stitching vibration and jogging of the needle, said presser foot portion and nose portion extending angularly and horizontally from said raceway and terminating in a plane normal to the plane of jogging v of said needle in moving from one of said spaced points to another, the stitch extending axially parallel to the shank of the button without stress on an adjacent button in the raceway, whereby sewing maintains afixed rela- Cit tionof the buttons in the presser foot adjacent the button that is being sewn.

7. The combination with a button sewing machine having stitching means on the head thereof operated by the jogging of the needle to engage the work in spaced points while holding the work stationary, a chute having a plate and spaced tracks providing a guide channel raccway for edgewisely holding and guiding a continuous row of shank buttons in edge to edge relation of the heads thereof, means at one end of the chute arranged for connection to a bulk source of supply for said buttons, a presser foot portion terminating in a nose portion extending from said raceway and along which shank buttons are arranged to be guided slidably to said nose portion at the other end of the chute, said channel comprising a plate having tracks spaced from one face thereof terminating adjacent the nose and having spring fingers extending from said tracks clampingly to press a button into contact with the nose and cooperating with an anvil to form a clamp for holding the work and a button stationary during the said stitching vibration and jogging of the needle, said presser foot portion and nose portion extending angularly from said raceway and terminating normal to the plane of jogging of said needle in moving from one of said spaced points to another, the stitch extending axially parallel to the shank of the button without stress on an adjacent button in the raceway, whereby sewing maintains a fixed relation of the buttons in the presser foot adjacent the button that is being sewn.

8. The combination in accordance with claim 6 wherein a feeder pawl is mounted adjacent said head and has a button engaging finger extended therefrom positioned to extend between buttons guided along said nose portion, said pawl having a compound rise and stopportion, with the rise portion in the leading position and the stop portion in the trailing position and including a follower on said presser foot portion for sweeping a button in the nose portion to a sewing position substantially only in one direction.

9. The combination in accordance with claim 7 including a feeder pawl having mounting means adjacent said head, said pawl having a button engaging finger extended to be movable adjacent said nose portion between buttons supported thereon, said pawl having a cam comprising a compound rise and stop portion, with the rise portion in the leading position and the stop portion in the trailing position, a follower for contacting said cam mounted on said presser foot for sweeping a button in the presser foot to a sewing position substantially in one direction, said pawl being mounted on a fixed portion of said sewing machine head.

10. The combination in accordance with claim 7 wherein said presser foot is mounted from the button clamp member of said button sewing machine and is movable from a button and work clamping and sewing position to a button releasing position, said presser foot having pivotally mounted means aligning said presser foot for articulation pivotally and means on the head pivotally mounting a feeder pawl from said head in relation to said presser foot, said feed-er pawl being swin able in the plane of feed of buttons in said presser foot and said presser foot being extended from a section coupled to said chute and having pivotal mounting means for aligning said presser foot pivotally with said chute for articulation in parallelism with the longitudinal axis of the sewing machine head.

11. The combination in accordance with claim 7 including means for pivotally mounting the feeder pawl from said head operable in relation to said presser foot portion and along the same to sweep buttons held thereon therefrom, said pawl cooperating with a follower on said presser foot for sweeping a button from said presser foot .in lifting the presser foot to work releasing position, said pawl having a compound camming surface including a rise and stop portion, and a follower on said presser foot with which said camming surface cooperates for engage ment of the button held on said presser foot.

12. The combination in accordance with claim 7 wherein said chute has adjacent said presser foot a swinging pawl mounted on the head of said machine and includes a finger extensible between buttons held between said plate and tracks, said pawl having a compound camming surface and said presser foot having a follower cooperating to cause said pawl finger to sweep a button from said presser foot in moving the presser foot to work releasing position.

13. The combination in accordance with claim 7 wherein said chute has adjacent said presser foot a swinging pawl mounted on the head of said machine and includes a finger extensible between buttons held between said plate and tracks, said pawl having a compound cumming surface and said presser foot having a follower cooperating to cause said pawl finger to sweep a button from said presser foot in moving the presser foot to work releasing position, said camming surface in engagement with said follower having an initial tolerance of movement before ejecting a button from said presser foot whereby button heads of different sizes may be shifted from said presser foot with the said pawl.

14. A feeder assembly for feeding shank buttons to the button sewing machine comprising a work and button holding presser foot movable to work releasing position including a plate and spaced tracks outlining a channel in which the head of the shank button is guided, and a slot between said tracks through which the shank of said button may extend, whereby a row of buttons may be slidingly held in edge-to-edge contact, a pivotal pawl having a finger for engaging a button in said channel, mounting means for said pivotal pawl permitting movement of said pawl finger along said presser foot, camming means on said pawl, follower means on said presser foot cooperating with said camming means on said pawl to cause said pawl finger to engage the button for shifting and ejecting a button when the presser foot is moved to work releasing position, and stop means carried by means on said presser foot positioned at a point intermediate the full movement of the presser foot to limit the movement of the pawl in relation to the presser foot member during movement of said presser foot whereby, upon moving of the presser foot to the work releasing position, said pawl will be projected between the second and third buttons held in said chute, to eject the first button and position the second button in a sewing position on the presser foot by the limiting, swinging movement of the pawl in relation to the stop, said pawl being mounted on means having an initial tolerance of movement before said finger enters the space between the buttons and ejects a button, whereby heads of buttons of different sizes may be shifted from said presser foot with said pawl.

15. A feeder assembly for feeding shank buttons to the button sewing machine comprising a work and button holding pressure foot having means to move the same to work releasing position, said presser foot including a plate and spaced tracks outlining a channel in which the head of the shank button is guided, and a slot. between said tracks through which the shank of said button may extend, whereby a row of buttons may be held in edgeto-edge contact, a pivotal pawl having a finger for en gaging a button in said channel, mounting means for said pivotal pawl permitting movement of said pawl finger along said presser foot, camming means on said pawl, follower means on said presser foot cooperating with said camming means on said pawl to cause said pawl finger to engage the button for shifting and ejecting a button when the presser foot is moved to work releasing position, said pawl and follower means having cooperating stop means to limit the movement of the pawl in relation to the presser foot member during movement of said presser foot whereby, upon moving of the Presser foot to the work releasing position, said pawl will be projected in the space between any two contiguous buttons other than the space between the first and second buttons held in said chute, to eject the first button and position the second button in a sewing position on the presser foot by the limiting, swinging movement of the pawl in relation to the stop.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 690,329 Thomson Dec. 31, 1901 690,978 Mathison a. Jan. 14, 1902 902,828 Mathison Nov. 3, 1908 1,149,474 Sullivan et al Aug. 10, 1915 1,289,292 Smith 2. Dec. 31, 1918 2,597,912 Troll May 27, 1952 2,661,709 Troll Dec. 8, 1953 

